38706 Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 138 / Thursday, July 22, 2021 / Notices 

1The OFAs include: The U.S. Department of the 

Interior (Bureau of Indian Affairs, Bureau of Land 

Management, Bureau of Reclamation, National Park 

Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Office of 

the Solicitor, Office of Environmental Policy & 

Compliance, Office of Hearings and Appeals, and 

Office of Policy Analysis); the U.S. Department of 

Agriculture (U.S. Forest Service); the U.S. 

Department of Commerce (National Marine 

Fisheries Service); and the U.S. Army Corps of 

Engineers. 

2 16 U.S.C. 791a–823d (2018). 

3See id. § 803(e)(1) and 42 U.S.C. 7178 (2018). 

4 107 FERC ¶ 61,277, order on reh’g, 109 FERC 

¶ 61,040 (2004). 

5Other Federal Agency Cost Submission Form, 

available at https://www.ferc.gov/docs-filing/ 

forms.asp#ofa. 

considered part of the Commission 

record. 

The Commission’s Rules of Practice 

and Procedure require all intervenors 

filing documents with the Commission 

to serve a copy of that document on 

each person whose name appears on the 

official service list for the project. 

Further, if an intervenor files comments 

or documents with the Commission 

relating to the merits of an issue that 

may affect the responsibilities of a 

particular resource agency, they must 

also serve a copy of the document on 

that resource agency. 

k. Description of Request: Due to 

persistent drought conditions, the 

licensee requests Commission approval 

of a temporary variance of the minimum 

flow requirement at streamflow gages 

YB–316 (Upper Peak Lower Peak and/or 

Kidd Lake), YB–207 (Lake Creek below 

Feeley Lake), YB–208 (Carr Lake), and 

YB–209 (Rucker Creek below Blue 

Lake). The licensee is requesting to 

reduce flow at YB–316, to 3 cubic feet 

per second (cfs) and that flows at YB– 

207, YB–208 and YB–209 be reduced 

from license required flows of 0.50 cfs 

(target), 0.20 cfs (allowable) to proposed 

flows of 0.50 cfs (target), 0.10 cfs 

(allowable), measured as a 48-hour 

average. As requested, the reduced flow 

releases would prevent dewatering of 

these reaches. If granted, the variance 

would last through October 1, 2021, or 

until adequate precipitation occurs to 

ensure that inflow equals outflow at the 

referenced reservoirs for at least seven 

consecutive days, whichever comes 

later. 

l. Locations of the Application: The 

Commission provides all interested 

persons an opportunity to view and/or 

print the contents of this document via 

the internet through the Commission’s 

website at http://www.ferc.gov/docsfiling/elibrary.asp. Enter the docket 

number excluding the last three digits in 

the docket number field to access the 

document. You may also register online 

at http://www.ferc.gov/docs-filing/ 

esubscription.asp to be notified via 

email of new filings and issuances 

related to this or other pending projects. 

Agencies may obtain copies of the 

application directly from the applicant. 

At this time, the Commission has 

suspended access to the Commission’s 

Public Reference Room due to the 

proclamation declaring a National 

Emergency concerning the Novel 

Coronavirus Disease (COVID–19), issued 

by the President on March 13, 2020. For 

assistance, contact the Federal Energy 

Regulatory Commission at 

FERCOnlineSupport@ferc.gov or call 

toll free, (866) 208–3676 or TTY, (202) 

502–8659. 

m. Individuals desiring to be included 

on the Commission’s mailing list should 

so indicate by writing to the Secretary 

of the Commission. 

n. Comments, Protests, or Motions to 

Intervene: Anyone may submit 

comments, a protest, or a motion to 

intervene in accordance with the 

requirements of Rules of Practice and 

Procedure, 18 CFR 385.210, .211, .214. 

In determining the appropriate action to 

take, the Commission will consider all 

protests or other comments filed, but 

only those who file a motion to 

intervene in accordance with the 

Commission’s Rules may become a 

party to the proceeding. Any comments, 

protests, or motions to intervene must 

be received on or before the specified 

comment date for the particular 

application. 

o. Filing and Service of Responsive 

Documents: All filings must (1) bear in 

all capital letters the title 

‘‘COMMENTS’’, ‘‘PROTEST’’, or 

‘‘MOTION TO INTERVENE’’ as 

applicable; (2) set forth in the heading 

the name of the applicant and the 

project number of the application to 

which the filing responds; (3) furnish 

the name, address, and telephone 

number of the person protesting or 

intervening; and (4) otherwise comply 

with the requirements of 18 CFR 

385.2001 through 385.2005. All 

comments, motions to intervene, or 

protests must set forth their evidentiary 

basis. A copy of all other filings in 

reference to this application must be 

accompanied by proof of service on all 

persons listed in the service list 

prepared by the Commission in this 

proceeding, in accordance with 

385.2010. 

Dated: July 15, 2021. 

Debbie-Anne A. Reese, 

Deputy Secretary. 

[FR Doc. 2021–15542 Filed 7–21–21; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6717–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY 

Federal Energy Regulatory 

Commission 

[Docket No. AD21–4–000] 

Billing Procedures for Annual Charges 

for the Costs of Other Federal 

Agencies for Administering Part I of 

the Federal Power Act; Notice 

Reporting Costs for Other Federal 

Agencies’ Administrative Annual 

Charges for Fiscal Year 2020 

1. The Federal Energy Regulatory 

Commission (Commission) is required 

to determine the reasonableness of costs 

incurred by other Federal agencies 

(OFAs) 1 in connection with their 

participation in the Commission’s 

proceedings under the Federal Power 

Act (FPA) Part I 2 when those agencies 

seek to include such costs in the 

administrative charges licensees must 

pay to reimburse the United States for 

the cost of administering Part I.3 The 

Commission’s Order on Remand and 

Acting on Appeals of Annual Charge 

Bills 4 determined which costs are 

eligible to be included in the 

administrative annual charges. This 

order also established a process 

whereby the Commission would 

annually request each OFA to submit 

cost data, using a form 5 specifically 

designed for this purpose. In addition, 

the order established requirements for 

detailed cost accounting reports and 

other documented analyses to explain 

the cost assumptions contained in the 

OFAs’ submissions. 

2. The Commission has completed its 

review of the forms and supporting 

documentation submitted by the U.S. 

Department of the Interior (Interior), the 

U.S. Department of Agriculture 

(Agriculture), and the U.S. Department 

of Commerce (Commerce) for fiscal year 

(FY) 2020. This notice reports the costs 

the Commission included in its 

administrative annual charges for FY 

2021. 

Scope of Eligible Costs 

3. The basis for eligible costs that 

should be included in the OFAs’ 

administrative annual charges is 

prescribed by the Office of Management 

and Budget’s (OMB) Circular A–25— 

User Charges and the Federal 

Accounting Standards Advisory Board’s 

Statement of Federal Financial 

Accounting Standards (SFFAS) Number 

4—Managerial Cost Accounting 

Concepts and Standards for the Federal 

Government. Circular A–25 establishes 

Federal policy regarding fees assessed 

for government services and provides 

specific information on the scope and 

type of activities subject to user charges. 


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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 138 / Thursday, July 22, 2021 / Notices 38707 

6OMB Circular A–25 § 6. 

7OMB Circular A–25 § 6.a.2. 

8SFFAS Number 4 ¶ 7. 

9For the past few years, the form has excluded 

‘‘Other Direct Costs’’ to avoid the possibility of 

confusion that occurred in earlier years as to 

whether costs were being entered twice as ‘‘Other 

Direct Costs’’ and ‘‘Overhead.’’ 

10See Letter from Michael A. Swiger, Van Ness 

Feldman, to the Honorable Kimberly D. Bose, FERC, 

Docket No. AD21–4–000 (filed April 30, 2021). 

SFFAS Number 4 provides a conceptual 

framework for federal agencies to 

determine the full costs of government 

goods and services. 

4. Circular A–25 provides for user 

charges to be assessed against recipients 

of special benefits derived from federal 

activities beyond those received by the 

general public.6 With regard to 

licensees, the special benefit derived 

from federal activities is the license to 

operate a hydropower project. The 

guidance provides for the assessment of 

sufficient user charges to recover the full 

costs of services associated with these 

special benefits.7 SFFAS Number 4 

defines full costs as the costs of 

resources consumed by a specific 

governmental unit that contribute 

directly or indirectly to a provided 

service.8 Thus, pursuant to OMB 

requirements and authoritative 

accounting guidance, the Commission 

must base its OFA administrative 

annual charge on all direct and indirect 

costs incurred by agencies in 

administering Part I of the FPA. The 

special form the Commission designed 

for this purpose, the ‘‘Other Federal 

Agency Cost Submission Form,’’ 

captures the full range of costs 

recoverable under the FPA and the 

referenced accounting guidance.9

Commission Review of OFA Cost 

Submittals 

5. The Commission received cost 

forms and other supporting 

documentation from the Departments of 

the Interior, Agriculture, and 

Commerce. The Commission completed 

a review of each OFA’s cost submission 

forms and supporting reports. In its 

examination of the OFAs’ cost data, the 

Commission considered each agency’s 

ability to demonstrate a system or 

process which effectively captured, 

isolated, and reported FPA Part I costs 

as required by the ‘‘Other Federal 

Agency Cost Submission Form.’’ 

6. The Commission held a Technical 

Conference on March 25, 2021 to report 

its initial findings to licensees and 

OFAs. Representatives for several 

licensees and most of the OFAs 

attended the conference. Following the 

technical conference, a transcript was 

posted, and licensees had the 

opportunity to submit comments to the 

Commission regarding its initial review. 

7. Idaho Falls Group (Idaho Falls) 

filed written comments,10 stating its 

general support of the Commission’s 

analysis but raising concerns regarding 

Department of the Interior, National 

Park Service (NPS) and Bureau of 

Reclamation (BOR) individual cost 

submissions. The issues are addressed 

in the Appendix to this notice. 

8. After additional review, full 

consideration of the comments 

presented, and in accordance with the 

previously cited guidance, the 

Commission accepted as reasonable any 

costs reported via the cost submission 

forms that were clearly documented in 

the OFAs’ accompanying reports and/or 

analyses. These documented costs will 

be included in the administrative 

annual charges for FY 2021. 

9. Figure 1 summarizes the total 

reported costs incurred by Interior, 

Agriculture, and Commerce with respect 

to their participation in administering 

Part I of the FPA. Additionally, Figure 

1 summarizes the reported costs that the 

Commission determined were clearly 

documented and accepted for inclusion 

in its FY 2021 administrative annual 

charges. 

Summary Findings of Commission’s 

Costs Review 

10. As presented in Figure 1, the 

Commission has determined that 

$6,032,252 of the $6,186,495 in total 

reported costs were reasonable and 

clearly documented in the OFAs’ 

accompanying reports and/or analyses. 

Based on this finding, 2% of the total 

reported cost was determined to be 

unreasonable. The Commission notes 

the most significant issue with the 

documentation provided by the OFAs 

was the lack of supporting 

documentation to substantiate costs 

reported on the ‘‘Other Federal Agency 

Cost Submission Form.’’ 

11. The cost reports that the 

Commission determined were clearly 

documented and supported could be 

traced to detailed cost-accounting 

reports, which reconciled to data 

provided from agency financial systems 

or other pertinent source 

documentation. A further breakdown of 


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Summ 

Bureau of Land Mana ement 116,752 

Bureau of Reclamation 882 882 21,055 

National Park Seivice 171,008 171,008 565,382 

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Seivice 181 804 181 804 1 035 765 

Office of the Solicitor 

60,365 60,365 179,315 

Figure 1 
38708 Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 138 / Thursday, July 22, 2021 / Notices 

1 16 U.S.C. 824o (2012). 

2 18 CFR 39.5 (2015). 

3The Commission defines burden as the total 

time, effort, or financial resources expended by 

persons to generate, maintain, retain, or disclose or 

provide information to or for a Federal agency. For 

further explanation of what is included in the 

information collection burden, reference 5 Code of 

Federal Regulations 1320.3. 

4The estimates for cost per response are loaded 

hourly wage figure (includes benefits) is based on 

two occupational categories for 2020 found on the 

Bureau of Labor Statistics website (http://

www.bls.gov/oes/current/naics2_22.htm): 

The hourly estimates for salary plus benefits are: 

(a) Electrical Engineer (code 17–2071), $70.19; (b) 

Information and Record Clerk (code 43–4199), 

$43.38. The average hourly cost (salary plus 

benefits), weighting both skill sets equally, is 

$56.79. For these calculations, we round the figure 

to $57.00 per hour. 

these costs is included in the Appendix 

to this notice, along with an explanation 

of how the Commission determined 

their reasonableness. 

Points of Contact 

12. If you have any questions 

regarding this notice, please contact 

Raven Rodriguez at (202) 502–6276. 

Dated: July 15, 2021. 

Debbie-Anne A. Reese, 

Deputy Secretary. 

[FR Doc. 2021–15540 Filed 7–21–21; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6717–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY 

Federal Energy Regulatory 

Commission 

[Docket No. IC21–23–000] 

Commission Information Collection 

Activities (Ferc–725v); Comment 

Request; Extension 

AGENCY: Federal Energy Regulatory 

Commission. 

ACTION: Notice of information collection 

and request for comments. 

SUMMARY: In compliance with the 

requirements of the Paperwork 

Reduction Act of 1995, the Federal 

Energy Regulatory Commission 

(Commission or FERC) is soliciting 

public comment on the currently 

approved information collection, FERC– 

725V, Mandatory Reliability Standards: 

COM Reliability Standards, which will 

be submitted to the Office of 

Management and Budget (OMB) for 

review. 

DATES: Comments on the collection of 

information are due August 23, 2021. 

ADDRESSES: Send written comments on 

FERC–725V to OMB through 

www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain. 

Attention: Federal Energy Regulatory 

Commission Desk Officer. Please 

identify the OMB Control Number 

(1902–0277) in the subject line of your 

comments. Comments should be sent 

within 30 days of publication of this 

notice to www.reginfo.gov/public/do/ 

PRAMain. 

Please submit copies of your 

comments to the Commission. You may 

submit copies of your comments 

(identified by Docket No. IC21–23–000) 

by one of the following methods: 

Electronic filing through http://

www.ferc.gov, is preferred. 

• Electronic Filing: Documents must 

be filed in acceptable native 

applications and print-to-PDF, but not 

in scanned or picture format. 

• For those unable to file 

electronically, comments may be filed 

by USPS mail or by hand (including 

courier) delivery. 

Æ Mail via U.S. Postal Service Only: 

Addressed to: Federal Energy 

Regulatory Commission, Secretary of the 

Commission, 888 First Street NE, 

Washington, DC 20426. 

Æ Hand (Including Courier) Delivery: 

Deliver to: Federal Energy Regulatory 

Commission, 12225 Wilkins Avenue, 

Rockville, MD 20852. 

Instructions: OMB submissions must 

be formatted and filed in accordance 

with submission guidelines at 

www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain. 

Using the search function under the 

‘‘Currently Under Review’’ field, select 

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission; 

click ‘‘submit,’’ and select ‘‘comment’’ 

to the right of the subject collection. 

FERC submissions must be formatted 

and filed in accordance with submission 

guidelines at: http://www.ferc.gov. For 

user assistance, contact FERC Online 

Support by email at ferconlinesupport@

ferc.gov, or by phone at: (866) 208–3676 

(toll-free). 

Docket: Users interested in receiving 

automatic notification of activity in this 

docket or in viewing/downloading 

comments and issuances in this docket 

may do so at https://www.ferc.gov/ferconline/overview. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Ellen Brown may be reached by email 

at DataClearance@FERC.gov, telephone 

at (202) 502–8663. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Title: FERC–725V, Mandatory 

Reliability Standards: COM Reliability 

Standards. 

OMB Control No.: 1902–0277. 

Type of Request: Three-year extension 

of the FERC–725V information 

collection requirements with no changes 

to the reporting requirements. 

Abstract: On August 15, 2016, the 

North American Electric Reliability 

Corporation (NERC) filed a petition for 

Commission approval, pursuant to 

section 215(d)(1) of the Federal Power 

Act (‘‘FPA’’) 1 and Section 39.5 2 of the 

Federal Energy Regulatory 

Commission’s regulations, for 

Reliability Standard COM–001–3 

(Communications), the associated 

Implementation Plan, retirement of 

currently-effective Reliability Standard 

COM–001–2.1, and Violation Risk 

Factors (‘‘VRFs’’) and Violation Severity 

Levels (‘‘VSLs’’) associated with new 

Requirements R12 and R13 in 

Reliability Standard COM–001–3. 

Reliability Standard COM–001–3 

reflects revisions developed under 

Project 2015–07 Internal 

Communications Capabilities, in 

compliance with the Commission’s 

directive in Order No. 888 that NERC 

‘‘develop modifications to COM–001–2, 

or develop a new standard, to address 

the Commission’s concerns regarding 

ensuring the adequacy of internal 

communications capability whenever 

internal communications could directly 

affect the reliability opera.’’ 

Reliability Standards COM–001–3 and 

COM–002–4 do not require responsible 

entities to file information with the 

Commission. COM–001–3 requires that 

transmission operators, balancing 

authorities, reliability coordinators, 

distribution providers, and generator 

operators must maintain documentation 

of Interpersonal Communication 

capability and designation of Alternate 

Interpersonal Communication, as well 

as evidence of testing of the Alternate 

Interpersonal Communication facilities. 

COM–002–4 requires balancing 

authorities, distribution providers, 

reliability coordinators, transmission 

operators, and generator operators to 

develop and maintain documented 

communication protocols, and to be 

able to provide evidence of training on 

the protocols and of their annual 

assessment of the protocols. 

Additionally, all applicable entities 

(balancing authorities, reliability 

coordinators, transmission operators, 

generator operators, and distribution 

providers) must be able to provide 

evidence of three-part communication 

when issuing or receiving an Operating 

Instruction during an Emergency. 

Type of Respondents: Public utilities. 

Estimate of Annual Burden 3: The 

Commission estimates the annual public 

reporting burden and cost for the 

information collection as: 4


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